Last Day + Heading Home

On March 20, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Our train was departing at 1:45. Since Chicago was the start of the line we were told it would leave on time and we would be able to get seats together for the whole trip.

We headed to the little coffee shop around the corner to get our morning cups of coffee.

The coffee was damn fine and I was thankful for it every morning.

Next door was an amazing bakery. Everything looked so good it was hard to choose. This was just one side.

I loved where our Airbnb was located. There was a sushi place on the corner. We grabbed dinner before the concert and it was awesome.

There was a grocery down the street where we were able to pick up some staples like juice, milk and cereal.

Across the street from the coffee shop was a record store that Jackson and I went to a few times where he bought a couple of albums he’d been looking for.

The street itself was just beautiful. There were always people out walking their dogs.

The Airbnb we found was perfect. It was spacious, clean and well, cute as can be.

Our last Uber ride and Hannah’s last time to play trivia games.

It started raining as soon as we got our bags into the station. Union Station is beautiful. We aren’t much for souvenirs, but I did pick up a postcard in the gift shop that I’m going to put in a little frame.

The train ride back was much easier than going there. I think it’s because when we woke up we only had about an hour and a half left to go. We didn’t bring any extra food, just what we had left from the trip there, so we did end up eating snacks, light food and drinks from the cafe car. They were expensive, but not crazy expensive.

We’ve been asked this question so many times.

Why Chicago? Well, the train from Longview goes there. We knew we wanted to take a train trip, so we just looked at direct trips. We actually booked the trip and Airbnb in December.

Chicago is huge. 3 days there is not enough to see everything. We wanted to go to the art institute, but it’s closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We didn’t know that when we booked.

Donny compared Chicago to Luby’s cafeteria. There’s a lot to choose from. Just pick what you like and enjoy it. We didn’t do a whole lot, but we did enough.

People are not as friendly as they are in Texas. You will find a few, but most people look startled when you say hello to them.

we had great Uber drivers. They were always willing to share what they liked best about their city.

We had a wonderful time, but I will say that seeing the hustle and bustle makes me appreciate Longview so much more than I did before the trip. I like our hardly any traffic, slower pace of life.

Chicago Day 3

On March 20, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Uncategorized1 Comment

This was our last full day in the windy city. The forecast was sunny with a high of 50. Perfect weather for exploring downtown.

We had several destinations on our list to get checked off. First we were headed to Portillo’s for an authentic Chicago hotdog.

The Chicago hotdog is like nothing I’ve ever had before. It’s an all beef hotdog with mustard, tomato, a pickle spear, raw onions, relish, peppers, celery salt on a poppy seed bun. It was really good. Their onion rings are to die for.

Donny got the beef sandwich. It was huge. I had a couple of bites and it was delicious.

We got there about 11:30. There was no line at all. By the time we sat down there must have been at least 20 people in line.

The restaurant itself is so fun. Her are a few pics.

I snuck some pics of the kids just to prove we did actually bring them with us.

Next stop was a walk to Millennium Park to see the bean.

The kids wanted to find a mall. We were told that Tower Place, on magnificent mile is a good one, so we got on Google maps and headed there.

The river was still green from when the city dyed it on Saturday.

The skyscrapers are amazing! I would have loved to have taken the architectural boat tour, but they weren’t running them because it was so cold.

We finally made it to the mall which was 7 stories tall and pretty amazing.

While Hannah and I were in one of the boutiques, Donny and Jackson went into a jewelry store. Jack has been wanting a watch. He tried one on that he liked. Too bad it was a $1300 Fendi watch. A little out of his price range. Hannah and I did find this very small boutique that had super cute clothes. We actually found her prom dress there.

After all the walking we decided it was time to go find something for dinner. We had passed Giordano’s on the way to the mall. We heard from one of our Uber drivers that it’s some of the best pizza in Chicago. He was not lying.

There was about a 20 minute wait, but what you do is put your order in when you get on the wait list so it’s already being made before you’re seated. It takes 45 minutes for a deep dish to bake.

Jackson got a thin crust because he doesn’t like deep dish. We ended up taking leftovers back because one slice will fill you up.

We took an Uber back to Logan Square to start packing up since we were leaving tomorrow afternoon.

The last night on our quaint little street

Chicago Day 2

On March 19, 2023March 19, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We woke up to 21 degree temperature. It was cold so we decided we’d go to the museum of Science and industry. The problem was, we didn’t really know how to get there. We needed to get our metra cards to be able to ride the L trains. We googled the closest station. It was about a 20 minute walk so we bundled up and headed out.

When we got to the station there was no attendant. Luckily I saw a guy going to catch the train and asked him where to get the cards. It was another 20 minute walk to a bigger station.

We made it the other station, got out cards and hopped on the blue line. I had a map of the routes, but we still didn’t know which one would take us to the museum. We ended up choosing the red line until some man asked us where we were trying to go because I’m sure we looked extremely lost and confused. We told him and he said the bus takes you right to the museum. I said, where do we catch the bus? He said, it’s too late now so when you get off the train you need to walk really fast because it’s a super sketchy part of town. Yay!

While we were on the train we decided the green line would get us closer. So green line it was. Yeah, it didn’t. We ended up walking through some slightly iffy neighborhood, through the University of Chicago campus, which by the way is gorgeous. I’m horrible at remembering to take pictures and Donny had my phone with the GPS trying its hardest to get us there.

After walking 8 miles total we finally made it to the museum. The temperature was 30 degrees.

The museum was huge. We saw as much of it as we could, but what we saw was impressive.

We took an Uber back to the Airbnb and the driver took us by Lake Michigan. Seeing a great lake has always been on my bucket list and of course, I didn’t get a picture. I would have loved to have gone swimming in it, but I’ll save that for another warmer time.

The kids had never been to a concert, so a few months ago we got tickets to see Colony House at house of blues. To say we were a bit worn out with all the walking we did would be an understatement, but we were really looking forward to going.

Waiting for the show to start. If you wonder why my kids are rarely in the pictures, it’s because they are teenagers and don’t like their pictures taken.

Little Image opened the show. They’re a band out of Dallas. I thought they were really good and would go see them again.

The place went nuts when Colony House came on. Everyone was jumping up and down to where you could feel it in the floor. Such a great concert and would definitely go see them again.

It was a full day. We didn’t get back to the apartment until midnight. Time to rest up for day 3.

Train trip + 1st night

On March 19, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Our train was supposed to leave at 6:45. When we got to the Amtrak station this is what we were met with.

We didn’t want to leave because the time kept changing so Donny ran out to get McDonald’s and we just hung out in the lounge, walked around and people watched. There was a little library where you could borrow and leave books and there were also vending machines. It wasn’t too bad, just added hours to what was going to be a long night and afternoon ahead.

We finally boarded about 8:30. I thought we had assigned seats, but we didn’t. There were only two seats together. So until, I think it was Little Rock, we weren’t able to all sit together.

Trains are MUCH different than planes. There’s no security to go through. Once the doors close it starts moving so you need to hurry up and get situated. The leg room is fantastic and not only does the seat recline but there are also leg rests that fold out.

Quiet time is from 10:00 until 7:00. You can talk, just not loudly, watch movies or be on your phone. You must use headphones so you don’t disturb anyone trying to sleep.

There were stops along the way where you could get out and stretch your legs.

Once it got light outside the cafe car is open. You can get food and drinks. We brought stuff from home so on the way there we didn’t buy anything off of the train.

If you look real hard you can see the Chicago skyline in the far back.

After 20 hours on the train we finally made it to Union station.

Union station is huge. We found a taxi to take us to Logan Square where our Airbnb was. Because we got in right at rush hour it took about 35 minutes to get there. The traffic is crazy!

Once we arrived and got all of our baggage up the stairs we needed food. I had read about the Punch bowl Social. So we arranged an Uber and off we went.

It’s what they call a scratch kitchen which means everything is fresh and made to order. It takes about 45 minutes to get your food, but they have games you can check out to play at your table.

The food was delicious. Jackson has chicken and waffles with Sriracha maple syrup. Hannah has garlic shrimp tacos, Donny and a bison patty melt and I had a burger.

Afterward we went to the arcade and played some games. It wasn’t a huge arcade, but all the other ones you had to be 21+ and since this one was in the restaurant it was all ages.

We played Jenga by the fire. The kids also played darts. They had a giant Scrabble board, an oversized dice game, corn hole, shuffle board and a whole lot of other games. It was a really fun place to go on our first night there.

We definitely could have spent hours there, but we were really tired and needed sleep to get ready for day 2.

Chicago Here We Come

On March 12, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

This time tomorrow we will be on the train headed north. It was 80 degrees here today, so it’s a little hard to wrap my head around 22 degrees tomorrow night.

The trip will take almost 20 hours. We did not get a sleeper because we would have needed 2 and that was out of our budget. At least coach seats are big and luckily I can literally sleep anywhere, anytime no matter what’s going on around me.

I’ve gotten my things together. Donny got his stuffed packed tonight and hopefully the kids are working on theirs.

We went shopping for food to take to eat along the way and when you have two teenagers with you, things can get a little out of hand. I think we have more food than clothes except I haven’t seen what Hannah has packed.

Now I’m going to go to bed because the time change happens tonight and I need to get up early.

We got this!

Shopping the Outlet

On March 10, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

I recently found out that we have a Gap distribution center here. We don’t actually have a Gap store in our town, but there IS an outlet within the distribution center that has Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta and Old Navy clothes and accessories. The only store we have in our town out of the 4 is old navy, so this is pretty cool.

Since it’s only open on Thursdays and every second Saturday of the month, this was our only chance to go before we leave on vacation. We were looking for specific leggings that Hannah needs. We didn’t find the leggings, but Donny found a pair of cargo pants. Jack found 2 shirts and I found a dress and some jeans. Each brand has it’s own set price which is considerably cheaper than at the actual store.

My dress and jeans were $7.99 each. I love the pattern and how lightweight the dress is. It’s going to be perfect when the weather warms up. I’m not sure how much the other things were because I was looking at swim suits when Donny checked out, but I know they were good deals. I’m definitely going back when I have a little more time to spend there.

Now I’m off to get things ready for our trip because we leave Sunday and it’s going to be cold in Chicago and I need to make sure we pack out winter stuff ❄️

One Week

On March 6, 2023 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

A week from today we will be on a train heading to Chicago. It’s an almost 20 hour trip. I’ve never been to Chicago and although I’ve checked the weather and it’s going to be really cold, I think we’ll still have fun. We’ve booked an Airbnb in Logan square because I just prefer that over traditional hotel rooms. With 4 of us we won’t feel all cramped together.

So this week will be spent making lists, getting the house ready for our cat sitter and making sure we don’t over pack. Not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous.

in other news our garden is coming together nicely. We have radishes popping up. The onions are growing along with the tomatoes, potatoes, beets, spinach, kale and romaine. We’re waiting for a few other veggies to sprout and I’m trying to be patient.

Donny made the raised bed because it was just easier than digging. We got all the lumber free from his work because it was leftover from the remodel. We had to fence it up due to the chickens and cats digging around. So far so good. Since we try to do everything inexpensively I have a beet box that was actually the top of a dog house. Luckily we don’t have an HOA 🤣 We also have two kiddie pools that we used last year.

I’ve also been looking for the perfect shoes to take on our trip. We were in tractor supply getting a rain barrel when I found these boots. They’re the perfect color, waterproof and so comfortable.

i think they’ll do the trick

oatmeal + clean out

On October 6, 2022 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

i eat oatmeal every morning. If you happen to like oatmeal, here’s a super easy way to fix it.

1/2 cup of oats with 1 cup of water in a large bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Give it a stir and microwave for an additional minute.

i add about 2 tsp of brown sugar, cinnamon, turmeric, a dash of salt and a drizzle of maple syrup. I like a lot of cinnamon and turmeric.

Then I add fruit. Lately I’ve been into strawberries.

It ain’t pretty by any means, but it tastes so good.

On another note, Donny and I share a very small closet. I realized that I was very much encroaching on his space. Oops. He is much better at having a minimalist wardrobe than I am. So today I took everything out of my closet and tried everything on.

This is after. I store my jeans and leggings in the baskets and shoes I don’t wear often in the boxes.

It feels so freeing knowing that everything in my closet fits just right. I’ll have to do it again when I switch out for winter. Not gonna lie, I’m kinda dreading that.

I also want to add (for my memories sake) that I went to the ENT doctor today and my ear that was dreadfully stopped up has healed and is perfectly fine now.

Why We Airbnb

On June 19, 2022 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Weekend GetawayLeave a comment

A few weeks ago we drove to San Antonio to visit our daughter and her family. She lives in the Denver Heights area that’s very close to downtown. Because we don’t really like staying in hotels because with two teenagers it can get cramped quickly, we opted to find an Airbnb.

i couldn’t believe it when I found one just a couple of streets over from my daughter’s home. (If anyone is wondering why we just didn’t stay with them, it’s because they have a 2 BR, a 10 month old and 4 dogs and we have 2 teenagers)

The price was right on budget so we booked it and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t “fancy”, but neither are we. It was clean, spacious and well stocked.

this was the morning we were leaving. You walk straight into the living room from the front door. Super comfy couch.

Tv in the living room. It was small, but it had all the streaming services and we even watched The Batman. There are larger TV’s in the bedrooms, but we seriously didn’t really watch TV much.

I loved that our host included a little library that had all different genres. (Excuse our stuff. We were getting ready to load the car)

The kitchen was older, but clean and well stocked. The laundry is off the kitchen with the door leading to the outdoor patio and yard. I didn’t get a pic of that.

We didn’t really cook anything except some pizza for a late night snack.

Hallway with bedrooms on each end and bathroom in the middle.

One of the bedrooms. Both beds were super comfy.

We stayed here 2 nights, then it was on to Hurst to see Donny’s mom and brother. We got into the DFW area around 6 and went to the hotel we normally stayed. Completely booked. Turns out unless you wanted to pay $300 for about 15 total hours in a room, you were out of luck. We sat in the parking lot and called everywhere to try to find a room. Finally found one with a king bed and pull out couch. It was more than we paid per night for the Airbnb, but we were tied and cranky.

Turns out there was a big Elvis convention in town ( they were crowning the new reining Elvis impersonator and there were Elvis’s from all over the world. Ya can’t make this stuff up) Also there was a board game convention. Again, who knew that even existed. Throw in 2 graduations and you have overload in the fort worth area.

So, this is the hotel room we stayed in at holiday inn express grapevine. This is why we will always stay in an Airbnb. I got this pic off the website because our room was so jam packed with our stuff all I could think about was packing and leaving.

this photo makes it look much bigger than it was.

Yes, you get a free breakfast at hotels, but trust me, a free muffin is not worth it.

Shampoo Bar

On January 11, 2022 By thefunkyfrugalistaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

For the last year, we have been eliminating toxic chemicals from our home. I thought I was doing great. Plant based cleaners and body products that weren’t tested on animals had replaced the more toxic products we had always used. Then I read up on plastic recycling. I recycle everything that can be recycled. The only problem with that is only about 9% of the plastic ever actually gets recycled.

This made me rethink everything I had purchased that was in a big ole plastic bottle. Since 3 of us have long thick hair, we went through a LOT of shampoo and conditioner. I had seen shampoo and conditioner bars all over social media, so I decided to give them a try.

Hibar had really good reviews and Natural Grocers happened to carry it, so that’s what I decided to try.

All of the packaging is recyclable. No plastic.

I will admit it took a few shampoos to get used to using bars. I love the shape because it’s easy to hold onto and the flat top makes it a breeze to rub onto your scalp. To use the shampoo, you get your hair super wet and just rub it into the roots. I then just rub the bar into my hands to gets the rest washed. With the conditioner, you really only need it on the ends. It has a fresh sent that isn’t too strong.

This is what it looked like one month into using it.

You can see that you don’t need much conditioner.

With “normal” shampoo my hair would be frizzy after I blow dried it. (I don’t use any styling products on my hair) Here’s what my hair looks like right after blow drying it.

I don’t even need to use a straightener.

Another plus is that I can go 4-5 days without needing to shampoo. It stays soft and shiny.

I didn’t think I would be able to convert my husband to using it, but a few days ago he asked me if I’d ordered another bar. Why yes I had.

This one is the volumizing. I just wanted to see if it works as good as the other one. It does.

So if you’re on the fence about shampoo bars, I highly recommend hibar. I’m sure there are other really good brands out there also. Just find one that works for you.

Also, my husband who has never played fantasy football before, won the championship.

And I know I’m late to the party on these, but aren’t the wire wrap headbands the best thing ever for windy days when side layers are trying to blow around your head and put your eyes out and it’s been so windy lately.